Tool for cleaning tubes



C. J. HAKES Feb 28, 1933.

' Pat nted Feb. 2a 1933.

UNITED: STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CARLTON, JONES HAKES, or SPENCER, Iowa 7 moonron CLEANING 'rUBEs Y Application filed'may 23,

ing around the tool throughout the major portion of its body, said parts being "so arranged that at times all of the cutters throughout the body will engage and operate upon the deposit or scale within a tube being cleaned.

My invention consists in the construction,

. arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the ob'ects contemplated are attained, as hereina er more fully set forth, pointed outin' my claims, and

' illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

which: t v

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a tube cleaning tool embodying my invention and shown in position within a tube having a.

ably made of spring metal and formed hoL low. At, one end itris' detachably connected to afiuidpressure pipe 11. ,Atthe opposite end of the tool its inner surface is beveled to form a cuttingedge at 12, at its forward outer edge.

Arranged at spaced intervals is aseries, of ribs 13er deposit or coating of materialto be removed alongthe exterior of the body 1932. ser1a1'No.fe13 ,125.,

ranged circumferentially; and having 1 both.

their forward and rear edges formed with cutting edges-at 14.

At the opposite'sides of the cutting tool I f have'forined s'lots 15 extending from the forward end ofthe tool to .a pointsnear the rear end thereof and beyond "the last of the ribs 13, for purposes hereinafter made clear.

In Figure 1 of the drawing Ihave shown a a tube lo-having a deposit orlayer 17 s of for ,eign material tobe'removed from thetube,

iLIld which may be carbon, lime, rust-or the ikef i s .111 practical operation with my improved tube cleaning tool, the forward end of the 65. tool is inserted in the tube to be cleaned and means for applying fluidpressure is provided 4 at the otherendof the tube. Then the operator grasps the tool or the pipe 11 communieatingwith the interior of the tool and ma'ntube is relatively hard and thick, then the front cutting' edge 12 alone willnot remove 7 all of it, but only the inner surface thereof, andthis willcause the opposite sides of the, tool tobe sprung together, as shown in Figure 1, andwhenin this position each of the succeed- V ingforward cutting edges 14of the ribscl3 will alsocut ori scrape parts of the layer 17 from the interior of the tube, and by this means with each one of the cutting edges re'-. moving a small; portion of the deposit, the I tube may be eifectively cleaned with a minimum number of reciprocating operations of,

the tool.

During the reciprocating movement of the tool, to loosen thedeposit or scale, fluid under pressure is passed throughjthe tube lland u out through the sides of the "slots 15 and. through the grooves between the slots, so that as fast as the deposit 17 is removed by the cutting edges] 14, the material will drop into the slots andbe carried away by the fluid, due, i a

to the fact that the slots 15are in communica tion with the spaces between the ribs, as clearly shown inFigure 1.

I claim as my invention: V I p 1. A tube cleanercomprising a hollow tool 0- body having at one end a circular cutting edge, a series of annular ribs formed on the outer surface of the body with their edges shaped to form cutters, the body of the tool being formed with longitudinal slots extending from its cutting end toward its other end, and arranged with the slots communicating with the spaces between the said ribs and whereby fluid pressure on the interior of the tool may pass outwardly through the slots and through the spaces between the ribs to remove scale therefrom.

2. A tube cleaner comprising a hollow tool body having at one end, a circular cutting edge, a series of annular ribs formed on the outer surface of the body'with their edges shaped to form cutters, the body of the tool being formed with longitudinal slots extending from its cutting end toward its other end,

and arranged With the slots communicating with the spaces between the said ribs and whereby fluid pressure on the interior of the tool may pass outwardly through the slots and through the spaces between the ribs to remove scale therefrom, the tool being made of spring metal so that the sides thereof may be sprung inwardly and outwardly to enter tubes having more or less scale, and whereby each of the ribs may at times engage and cut scale with the tube being cleaned.

3. A tube cleaner comprising a hollow tool body having at one end a circular cutting edge, a series of annular ribs formed on the outer surface of the body with their edges shaped to form cutters, the body of the tool being formed with longitudinal slots extending from its cutting end toward its other end, and arranged'with the slots communicating with the spaces between the said ribs, and whereby fiuidpressure on the interior of the tool may pass outwardly through the slots and through the spaces between the ribs to remove scale therefrom, and a fluid pressure pipe attached to and communicating with the end of the tool opposite the cuttingend.

CARLTON JONES HAKES. 

